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candied-cae · 2 years

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And Who Are We At The End Of The World? - Got To Get Them Back

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Chapter 8/? - - - Read it on AO3

Word Count : 6,747

Summary: Robin's finally getting some time with Vickie! And Nancy's getting time with one of the government workers. She's not going to let them intimidate her to back off like they have before, she's going to get some answers this time. But those answers might not be the kind she's hoping for…

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Nancy looked back at Steve. He was slowly shaking out a blue shirt while he kept careful eyes on her. He looked like he was ready to spring into action and run over if she so much as pouted too harshly. Which was not something she needed if she wanted to get this woman alone enough to answer questions.

She pointedly looked to the back doors of the gym with a nod, hoping he’d understand she was agreeing to walk away and didn’t need him to run out after her. His face looked pinched like he didn’t like it, but he nodded back to her, giving his blessing in some sort of way. Nancy turned back to the woman and followed her out the through the doors that poured into the track field. Crisp early spring air curled around them while the mystery woman looked around.

Once she was sure they were alone, she peered through her dark lenses at the shorter girl,“ Alright, Ms. Wheeler. I understand you might be frustrated-”

“What is going on?” Nancy bit into her time. She refused to allow her the courtesy of running through her practiced lines uninterrupted.

She didn’t want to be placated like a child. She didn’t want to be worked around and settled like a rebellious middle schooler. She was a big girl who could handle herself. And if this government worker thinks she can get around her right to know what the fuck is going on... then she doesn’t know Nancy Wheeler very well.

The woman flustered a moment, clearly not used to teenagers fighting against her authority, but she kept her corporate-like poise and shifted,“ We didn’t know much at the time-”

“No.” Nancy insisted,” You people keep coming to our town, making problems for us, and getting people hurt. Getting people killed. And it always comes down to us. Letting us deal with all the bullshit you started. Hiding the truth from us until the last second, when we become the ones paying the price to keep everything together. Do you even know how many have been hurt in Hawkins because a bunch of teenagers were the only ones trying to fix your problem?”

The question struck her a bit harder, she pulled the sunglasses off of her face to let Nancy see her vibrant greens as she answered,“ The count is at twenty-two casualties. Injuries are in the hundreds. Yes, I know.”

“So, don’t waste my time with excuses and pushing off the blame so we don’t hold you liable. We do, and we always will, not that it matters since this is all under the table, contractual NDA shit that we couldn’t do anything about if we wanted to. So, just tell me what is going on.” Nancy sucked in a breath to try and still the shaking fear in her next demand,” Tell me why haven’t I been able to reach my brother since this started.”

The woman bristled under her harsh gaze. She fell silent for a moment as those eyes flicked to the ground, running from Nancy's, before letting just a shred of personhood come out,” The last status we had on Michael was that Ms. Byers left him and the other two with Jonathan. She had a sudden business trip she went on. The girl had to go do something, and your brother stayed with the Byers boys, under the watch of agents Harmon and Wallace when the house was… when the house was raided.”

“What-” Nancy's voice croaked out as she struggled to understand that word.

‘Raided’. Their house was raided? What does that even mean?

She continued,“ We believe the three of them escaped with the agents, they weren’t at the house when a team checked in, but we haven’t heard anything about them since. And when the girl disappeared from the facility-”

Nancy was still reeling from the news that her brother was missing when her brain was stopped in its tracks,“ A facility? You just said she had something she had to go do. But there's a facility? What did you people do to El?”

“She voluntarily went in with Doctor Sam to work with Doctor Brenner on-”

“Brenner.” her voice seethed the name.

She already hated the man on principle from what she’s picked up of El’s childhood. But after she saw what she saw… when Henry showed her flashes of horrific memories of that lab, of that man... She hated him with a new fire,” You let her end up back in his-”

“She was there of her own choice.” the woman pushed,” They were working on getting her power back.”

She shook her head at that explanation,“ That’s not enough. That’s not reason enough to- to put her back with that monster. It’s just not.”

“You may feel that way, Ms. Wheeler. But, at the end of the day, the girl chose to be there. And from my last report, she was doing quite well.”

“Last report?”

“A few days ago, communication stopped. I know you think we haven't done enough, but we've been doing everything we can. We’re just doing our part managing-”

“Nothing.” Nancy finished the sentence for her.” You have been managing nothing. We have been the ones managing.”

“And this was the result of your management?” the woman asked, looking back towards the door of the gymnasium with critical eyes.

Nancy clenched her jaw. Her face set with fury at what she was implying. Like this was their fault. Like they could’ve known any better, or tried any harder than they did. They gave everything they had, without any help from anyone else.

“I came out here to get answers and make sure whatever your people try to pull doesn’t make things worse. If you end up giving the police some cover story, you keep the blame off of Eddie Munson. You don't get to make him your scapegoat. We are exonerating him of the murders and we sure as hell don’t need you messing that up for him.”

“We know he wasn’t responsible, obviously. We have no wish to put him back into the line of fire unnecessarily-”

“Good.” Nancy gave the single word and pushed past the lady she didn't bother to catch a name for as she headed back into the building.

The woman trailed after her, paces slower and shorter thanks to her heels,“ Wait, we need to discuss what you kids have been-”

“I’ll tell you what happened this week when you can tell me where my brother is.”

Nancy set the condition to their terms with an iron conviction clear in her voice. She didn’t even look at the woman. Just kept walking until she made her way back to the garment table. She retook her place next to Steve and picked up the first thing she saw to have something to do with her hands.

When Nancy returned to Steve’s sight, she was fuming. He didn’t need a close look at her to tell she was pissed. Even from across the room, Steve could feel it coming off her in waves. Behind her, he saw the suit enter the doors herself, huffing as she futzed with her jacket and slipped the sunglasses back into place. She was clearly less than satisfied with how their conversation had gone.

Something important just happened.

Nancy was folding the clothes with more force than she really needed to, when Steve carefully asked,“ What happened?”

Her hands suddenly stilled as her face twisted further.

“They knew.” she spit the words out as quietly as she could in her steaming anger.

“They knew?”

“Knew something was up when Chrissy died,” Nancy answered, hands fighting with the fabric in her grasp. She wasn’t really folding it anymore, she just kept pulling and twisting as she worked through the words,” Before Freddie and Patrick. Before Max and Eddie. They knew, and they didn’t do anything about it. They just silently poked around. Keeping everything to themselves. While we were out there, risking our lives, actually trying to do something.”

“They-?” Steve started, but Nancy didn’t stop.

“They don’t even know what happened to the others. Mike and El and Will and Jonathan are missing.”

“What?” Steve’s voice came out weak, feeling the pit of his stomach drop to his feet.

“Their house was raided. Raided. Days ago. And they lost touch with the rest of their team out west. They don’t know where any of them are. And before they even lost them, they handed El back to that bastard-”

Steve put his hands over hers to still their movements. It pulled her out of her head enough that she stopped to properly breathe instead of just drawing in shallow huffs between her words. He gently tugged on the piece and she relinquished the fabric without further opposition. Nancy closed her eyes a moment, tensing all her muscles and releasing them to try and reset the part of her that couldn’t stop burning with the information she’d just received.

“Do you want to leave, Nance?” he asked her.

“No.” she opened her eyes and picked up a pair of children’s shorts, actually folding them this time,” We said we’d help out. Let’s just finish up, and then we can all get out of here.”

“Okay.”

As less than an hour goes by of folding and sorting, there wasn’t much said between the two. Not much beyond the ‘excuse me’s they'd exchange as they reached around one another, at least. When Dustin ran out of people to offer water cups to, he drifted over to the two of them and started pressing for what Nancy found out. Steve shook his head to tell him that they wouldn’t talk about it right now. Not that she could have even said much, nothing louder than a whisper of their supernatural secrets would’ve been allowed in the crowded room. Finally, Robin made her way on over with Vickie following behind her.

She was very much a contrast to Nancy’s display. Robin looked like she was walking on clouds, all smiles and sunshine filling the air around her as she got to have nearly a whole hour just talking to Vickie. And Vickie, curiously, looked very much the same.

Robin was carrying a few saran-wrapped sandwiches and held a pair of them out for Steve and Nancy when she arrived at their table. She handed another to Dustin, keeping one for herself, and passed the last to Vickie.

“They’re finished with us. We covered the lunch crowd, got most of the prep for dinner taken care of, and now I think they want us to get out of the way.” Robin told them with a bright smile.

“And we thought you three would be ready for a lunch break, on the house,” Vickie added.

They all accepted the food with polite smiles, but Steve looked into Robin a little bit harder. Because the girl was practically glowing. Steve narrowed his eyes at her, ever so slightly. Just enough to make sure she knew that he could see what was going on. Just enough to make sure she knew that he would absolutely be grilling her for answers once they ditched all the others. She cocked her head to the side with harsh eyes, as if trying to threaten him without words not to spill anything while Vickie was still there.

“Thanks. It’s Vickie, right?” Steve asked, sparing a glace at Robin, whose eyes widened suddenly in response.

“Yeah, it’s Vickie. How’d you know?” the girl asked.

Robin pressed her lips together, eyes boring into Steve with furious anxiety.

Vickie waved her hand to excuse herself, falling into a bubbling ramble like someone Steve knows quite well,” No offense, there’s nothing wrong with you knowing. I just figured our social circles didn’t really overlap when you were in high school so- not that I think I’m better than you or anything, it is absolutely not that. And I don’t want to imply that I think you think you’re better than me so-”

“No, you’re fine.” He stopped her,” Rob and I are just best buds, and she mentioned seeing a fellow band geek when we were at WarZone. I’m good with faces and picked up the name.”

“Oh, yeah. You were with her a couple of days ago, huh?” Vickie nodded along, clearly buying that the only reason Steve caught it was that recent run-in.

Robin’s glare softened as it worked, pulling back on some kind of easy-going smile that she really hoped didn’t look forced. She didn’t know what she’d do if Steve got stuck and just blurted out,” Oh, Robin just talks about you all the freakin’ time. Obsesses over how she looks in the morning because she wants to impress you. Oh, and we’ve had conversations, at length, about the likelihood that you’re into boobies. So yeah, I’m sure you wouldn’t be freaked out by that, Miss Vickie!”

That would’ve been a mess beyond repair.

“So,” Steve leaned in towards Vickie with a teasing grin at the girl standing beside her. He lowered his head but spoke in a loud whisper everyone could hear,” Did she do a good job making sandwiches, or should I be hesitant to take my first bite?”

“Nimrod,” Robin called him as the pink already in her cheeks flared.

“Nimrod yourself. I’m just worried your clumsy self might’ve left the knife in the middle of my sandwich, and I don’t want to lose a tooth today.”

Robin reached over the table to shove against Steve’s shoulder,” Just eat your stupid lunch.”

The five of them headed outside to eat on the benches and find something casual to say to pass the time. They shared introductions and wondered about the earthquake, what that would mean for school, and all that, but they only had a few minutes to start to get to know her when Vickie’s parents pulled up and took her back home.

That was becoming a more common occurrence in Hawkins than it previously was: parents driving their kids everywhere. Most of the time, the kids could just wander around: riding bikes, taking the bus, driving themselves, and carpooling with pals.

But now, there were more moms and dads crossing town at predetermined times to take their kids back. Maybe it was because so many of them had unexpected time off of work. Maybe it was because everyone not moving away was still scared shitless that something bad was still coming to hurt their babies. Which wouldn’t necessarily be wrong… But, whatever strange forces were making parents keep their kids on a shorter leash, it called Vickie away sooner than Robin was ready to let her go.

Once she was gone, the four left on the bench, who actually have some idea of what was going on, were able to discuss the current developments. After Robin and Dustin got caught up, they both felt awful. Less of the burning anger that Nancy had felt, but more a sick fear that washed over them with the news that the Byers and Mike were all missing.

And then, before anyone could even think of what to do, Dustin was running.

Or, at least, he was attempting. He still had an obvious limp that was getting in his way of making much haste.

“Henderson- Henderson!” Steve called as he jumped up from the bench after him.

He caught up to the boy with relative ease as Dustin started trying to manhandle his locked rear seat door, the girls following shortly behind.

“Henderson, what’re-”

“Give me your keys!” the boy shouted at him, very seriously.

Steve pulled his key ring from his pocket and handed them over to Dustin’s waiting hand. He immediately pulled apart the car’s key from the others and broke into the back seat. He practically fell over himself as he spilled into the seats and dug his hand around under them. Then he pulled out one of those brick walkie-talkies.

“We didn’t leave that in there a few days ago?” Steve asked, though, it'd be more acurate to say Steve stated it as fact with a note of confusion.

Dustin agreed,“ No, we didn’t. I grabbed one before you picked me up. And, honestly, everyone should have one of their own right now, but that’s beside the point.”

“Well, what’re- what’re you doing?” Steve tripped on the word as Dustin turned up the volume, a light buzzing static coming over the empty radio waves.

“Calling Lucas. We need to give them the update.” And, with that, he clicked the receiver,“ Lucas, this is Dustin. We have news. Over.”

Only a few seconds of buzzing passed. Steve took back his keys while they all climbed into the car with Dustin. Then, as each of them settled in closer, the other boy’s voice trilled through the walkie.

“Is it good news or bad news? Over,” he asked, already sounding like he was dreading the answer.

Dustin paused for a moment. “Pretty bad news. Over,” he solemnly admitted to the other.

There was silence. He didn’t come back through immediately, and just that was enough to make Dustin start to worry,” Are you okay? Over.”

“I’m fine. I’m with Max right now. Can we talk about it later?”

He sounded tired and quiet. Like he didn’t think he could take any more bad news. Like he didn’t even want Max’s sleeping body to overhear it.

The “Over” came through like an afterthought a few seconds later.

Lucas honestly forgot he even needed to say it. At least, he had until Erica nudged his foot with hers and reminded him.

“Uh. Yeah- yeah. No problem.” Dustin shook his head like he needed to loosen the rejection,” I can check in later. How ‘bout around nine? Over.”

“Around nine. Over.” Lucas confirmed.

Dustin turned back down the sound and set the box back into the seat between him and Nancy.

“Hey. He’s okay. Just not ready for more shitty news.” Robin assured him, twisting in her seat to look in his eyes.

“Yeah.” he nodded back, not looking totally convinced.

Nancy leaned over to him and bumped his shoulder to draw his attention. She might’ve wanted to boil over and break something herself, but she didn’t like seeing the little guy get all bent out of shape. She gave him the best reassuring smile she could muster and told him they’d be okay. Steve started the car and began the drive back over to the suburbs to drop everyone off. First Nancy and Dustin, mostly so he could corner Robin and get the latest scoop on the Vickie front, and maybe find some way to kill time just the two of them before he went back home alone.

It didn't take long for them to return to the Wheelers. Maybe fifteen minutes and Steve was pulling into Nancy’s driveway to hand her back over to her family. Her mother stood in the open front door after she heard the car roll up. Karen waved at them as Nancy opened the back door to get out when suddenly she looked to the road confused.

“Did somebody order pizza?” she called to the kids and they all turned around to see a pizza delivery van rolling up.

Surfer Boy’s Pizza. Not a store any of them has ever heard of. And certainly, none of them called for lunch at the Wheelers. But, if it wasn’t anyone inside who called for the food and it wasn't any of them, why was it here?

At least, that’s what they all wondered to themselves until the side door slid open. Until they saw the people tumbling out of it were Will, El, and Mike. Then, from the front seats, there was Jonathan and another guy they didn’t recognize. But who cares if they didn’t know who he was? He helped bring them back, so he's practically a member of the team already.

As soon as they all realized who they were looking at, each of them threw open their doors and ran out for the reunion. Karen ran down the driveway until she had her boy in her arms. She practically tried to squeeze the life out of him, and he all but crumbled into the comfort and safety of his mother's arms. Nancy went straight for her long-distance boyfriend, now that said distance was something she could actually cross. She was lifted off the ground in his embrace. Legs kicked up behind her as he buried his face in the crook of her shoulder, just so relieved to see one another alright. Dustin hobbled forward until Will and El crashed into him, wrapping him up in their affection. He had them under each arm, holding tightly around their shoulders like he wasn’t sure he’d ever see them again.

Steve and Robin stepped forward, just a pace behind the others, seeing as they were less desperate to hold onto them. The new guy, Argyle they’d later find out, was his own distance across the way too. The three of them wore fond smiles, though. Even if they weren’t sharing tight hugs with their friends, just watching the others' joyful collisions together made them start to feel better themselves.

Karen doted on her son. Making comments through her teary voice that he doesn’t get to go on vacations anymore and that she wasn’t going to let him go to college because she needed to keep him right next to her. Nancy and Jonathan were whispering about what was going on. Clearly, both understanding that they’ve individually been involved in the ‘situation’ despite the separation. The set of three pulled away from each other as Dustin wiped away misty eyes.

Steve hadn’t had as much time to bond with the two of them as he had with Dustin, sure, but they were his kids too. And when Nancy told him that the government lady said they were missing, god, it scared him. It scared him like when he found Max looking near dead in Lucas’ arms. Because some kids go missing and pop back up in a few hours, but not these kids. These kids go missing, and the world goes to shit, and people die, and things don’t just work out for them all the time. So, while he allowed Henderson to be first, he had no plans to go much longer without any hugs of his own.

Steve stepped up and announced,” Alright, babysitter’s coming in to collect his too!”, as he ducked his arms around their waists and swept the two off their feet.

“Steve! Your stitches!” he heard Robin scold him.

But he didn’t care.

This was more important.

El and Will let out their own set of squeals and ‘Steve!’ as he swung them side-to-side, throwing their legs around them with reckless abandon. He didn’t stop until they both began to slap at his back and insist they be let down between their giggles. He set them both on their feet, leaving them rosy-cheeked and smiling. He peeked over and made eye contact with the other boy for a second. Mike, who, despite still being in his mother’s arms, made a face like he was worried Steve was going to come after him next.

Steve swatted a hand in his direction to let him know he was safe.

He never got in good with that kid. Mike was never all that impressed with him and still seemed to hold a grudge from his days with Nancy. Why? Steve had no idea. All he ever did was get caught climbing their gutter once or twice. And it wasn't like he was the one who broke up with Nancy or ever did anything to Mike. But, for whatever reason, that was the one member of the Party he couldn’t win over.

Will looked around them,“ Where’s Lucas?”

Dustin answered simply,“ He’s at the hospital.”

“Was he hurt?” worry found its way onto El's face.

He began to assure them,“ No. No, he’s…”, then he realized,” Oh God... You don’t know.” El looked to her brother for comfort.

“What don’t we know?” Will asked in her place.

Dustin shook his head.

He didn’t want to say the words. Every time someone said it, it became more real. And they didn’t know yet, so in their world, Max was fine. She wasn’t in a coma, body nearly broken into pieces by a twisted telekinetic, with no sign of when she’d wake up. If she’d wake up. But if he said it, he was taking that from them. Bringing them into the grim reality he’s been in the last few days… Making it real.

“Max is hurt.” Steve placed a hand on Dustin’s shoulder, taking the burden of saying the words, and brought his voice low,” We fought this thing, and it got to her. It’s bad.”

“Take me to her,” El said.

And Steve can’t say no.

Can’t seem even consider it when it’s El, he’s noticed.

The girl who’s gone to hell and back more times than any of them. The girl who’s barely even gotten to see the world she lives in. The girl whose hair has been cut close to her head again, just when she had finally been able to grow it out beyond her shoulders. The girl who’s lost too much in saving the world over and over again. Who lost her own dad, not even a year before.

“Nance.” Steve called over, said girl turning away from her boyfriend to look at him,” They want to go see Max.”

“Max?” Mike questioned as he pulled away from his mom.

“She’s in the hospital…” his sister filled in for him and told Jonathan,“ Yeah, yeah, we should all go over. She’s at Hawkins Memorial.”

In truth, Jonathan wanted nothing less than to climb back into that pizza van. After so many days stuck switching between its driver and passenger seat, he was tired of the whole damned thing. But if Max was in the hospital, that’s where they needed to be.

“Nancy, you’ll go with them and explain what’s going on?” Robin asked, receiving a nod as Nancy turned to climb into the very machine that’s made a half-country journey over the last few days.

Karen was resistant to letting go of her son and allowing him to be somewhere out of sight again. But she knew he needed to see his friends, and his sister would be with him. Her husband might try and act like Nancy was a mess of impulse and foolish emotion, but she knew her daughter was more than that. She’s strong and smart and one of the most responsible kids in the world, even if her ambition leads her to be brash sometimes. She moved her hands to pull her son’s forehead to her and smacked a kiss onto it once it was close enough.

“You are to come right back here after you finish checking on them,” she instructed, gently jabbing a finger into his chest to make sure he understood.

Mike rolled his eyes a little, but agreed,“ Alright, Mom.”

El and Will decided to ride in with Steve’s car to tell them their half of the story and catch up, while Nancy took her place in the back of the sun-faded yellow van next to Mike. While Argyle hopped back to the shotgun seat and Jonathan returned to his place behind the wheel, he decided to introduce himself to Nancy.

“I’m Argyle, and you’re my boy, Jonny’s, lady,” he stated instead of asking.

“Nancy,” she corrected his use of ‘Jonny’s Lady’ as a title for her. Despite it, she stretched a smile across her face to keep off any other reaction that wanted to present itself,” And you’re the friend from California.”

“Yes, I am,” he replied, wearing an easy-going grin that looked a lot more genuine and effortless than her own.

She didn’t get him. They’ve only just met, so it’s probably unfair to have decided it, she knows. But, already, she doesn’t get him.

There’s a cadence to his speaking that’s so lax and comfortable, and he just lolls his head around like it’s some foreign weight on his neck that he’s still adjusting to. All that might be something she brushes off as just somebody who walks through the world differently than she does. But apparently, they don’t walk through it so dissimilarly since they’ve both latched onto Jonathan and have gotten mixed up in Upside Down business.

So how is he so… him right now?

There was a beat of awkward silence while Nancy pondered him when Argyle looked like he was gearing up to say something else.

”So, what happened over here?”, Jonathan stepped in. Hoping to bait off another ‘Well, this is awkward’ moment between Argyle and a Wheeler as they started to pull away from the driveway.

“A lot,” Nancy answered,” But before we get into that, how are you all fine? I spoke to someone who said you all went missing after your house was raided.”

Jonathan started explaining,“ Uh, yeah. We got stuck with these supervisors to make sure we didn’t run off while El was with the doctors, and we were planning to sneak away to find her when a bunch of guys came through the windows and the doors, shooting-”

“Shooting?”

“One of the agents died, and the other was hit and came with us while we got out with Argyle. He died just after though.”

“Harmon and Wallace.” Nancy nodded.

“Who?” Mike asked her.

“Those were the agents. Agent Harmon and Agent Wallace. Right?”

“Was that their names? We just kept calling the one ‘Unknown Hero Agent Man’.” Argyle commented, before turning around in his seat to ask,” Do you know which one he was?”

“No, I don’t,” Nancy stated with a shake of her head.

“Man, coulda started calling him ‘Known Hero Agent Man’. Or just by his name, I guess. You think if we just use both, it’ll split the respect 50/50?” he wondered aloud, mostly to himself and Jonathan.

”Anyway, that’s-,” Nancy started as Argyle tried to find the best answer for himself.

"Rest in peace Harmon or Wallace? Rest in peace Wallace or Harmon? Wallrmon? Harlace? RestInPeaceWallaceHarmon?"

"Well, we can leave respect to both of them. They both died semi-heroically, even if only one of 'em did it in the back of the van." Jonathan reasoned.

”Wait, you said you only had one of them with you?”

“Yeah, the other was killed when he answered the front door. He was collapsed against the living room wall when we started running for our lives. Why?” Jonathan asked her.

“The woman I talked to said both of the agents were missing with you guys.”

“No, no, we definitely left the other one behind at the house.”

“And we left the other-other one buried in the desert,” Argyle added.

“So what happened to him before the rest of the team showed up…?” Nancy muttered.

Jonathan checked,“ You’re sure she said they were both gone?”

“Yes, I’m sure. She was pretty clear about it.”

“I’m getting a feeling like that probably doesn’t mean anything good.” Argyle cast wary eyes out the window at all the trees that rolled by.

“Yeah… probably not.” Jonathan agreed with him and turned his attention back to Nancy,” Um, but what do you guys know, what’s been going on in Hawkins?”

“Where to start…? There’s this guy, Vecna-”

“Vecna?” Mike cut her off,” Like our campaign-”

“Exactly like Eddie’s campaign, Dustin started it-” Nancy confirmed until Mike was talking over her again.

“Eddie? Why are you talking about Eddie? How do you know Eddie? You two never-”

“Well, we’ve had a very busy week, Mike-”

“That does not explain why you would-”

“Stop interrupting me, and I’ll get there.”

“Wow, you two really are siblings.” Argyle mused in the passenger seat.

“What does that mean?” They asked in unison, both somewhat offended to be compared to the other.

Argyle put up in hands in surrender,” Nothing bad, dudes. Just making observation and conversation.”

“Anyway- Vecna was one of the kids from El’s thing, the first one-”

“Henry- Or One-" Jonathan said," We know about him. He was the reason Dr. Brenner’s whole experiment got started.”

“Well, do you know how he got started?” Nancy asked, her tone more bitter than she was trying for.

She didn’t know what it was. It might’ve been the fact that they lost to Vecna/Henry/One, it might’ve been the woman in the pantsuit trying to make her feel small, it might’ve been Mike interrupting her like a minute ago... It could’ve been anything. But something was making it sound like she needed to prove herself. She needed to prove that she was smart, and capable, and had information they didn’t.

She took their silence as an answer and started with the things they couldn’t have known about,” Did you know he was the son of Victor Creel? That he murdered his mother and sister right here in Hawkins twenty-seven years ago? Did you know Dr. Brenner was coming to take him away because his parents thought he was off, but when Victor was arrested for their murders was put in Pennhurst, Brenner just took him and started all of this because the boy had powers and sadistic tendencies?”

Jonathan admitted,“ No. We did not know that."

But something in him heard that undercurrent in her. Like she wanted to start a fight. Jonathan's never been the kind of guy who likes fighting, who likes the be the guy on top of someone else. He doesn't butt against her with what they learned, he just simply says it because they all need to be on the same page.

"We do know that, after One became Brenner’s subject, the Dr. took away what he could do and kept him in the facility working as an orderly. He got close with El and told her how to do her stuff better until she got rid of his shackles. He killed nearly everyone there and tried to kill her when she confronted him. But she overpowered him, even as a kid. Sent him to what we know as the Upside Down.”

“Why has she never-”

Mike answered,“ She didn’t know. Blocked it out or something until this week.”

“The woman, she said… is it true? That El has her…”

“Oh yeah, girlie’s got her mojo back and then some.” Argyle smiled as he spoke.

“Wow,” Nancy said, partially because it was the only thing she could think to say when Argyle spoke. She really didn't know how to handle him or his whole… vibe.

“Anyway, the point is that he’s been behind all of it. He’s been the thing that kept reaching in from the Upside Down. And, on the last day before Spring Break, he killed Chrissy Cunningham.”

“Chrissy Cunningham?” Mike asked, eyebrowed hiked halfway up his forehead.

Argyle whispered loudly to Jonathan,“ Who’s Chrissy Cunningham, dude?”

“Cheerleader, really pretty, dating - or, dated - the basketball captain.” he filled in the only non-local in the vehicle,“ But, wait, he killed her?”

“In Eddie Munson’s trailer.”

“What?” Mike’s eyebrows went impossibly higher.

“Whole town thought Eddie killed her, but Max noticed her lights went on the fritz when it happened so we started looking into it as an Upside Down situation. As time passed, Vecna - or Henry or One - got Fred Benson and Patrick McKinney-”

“Kid on the school paper. Basketball player.” Jonathan translated the names for Argyle.

“And he tried to get Max. Twice.”

“Dr. Sam told El that things were crazy back here, but that you guys were fine. El didn’t believe him and checked. Said you guys were planning to take him down and were going to get yourself hurt when Max said she was marked by him.” Mike said to her.

Nancy started talking with her hands as she began to explain what they knew about Vecna’s situation,“ For some reason, Vecna doesn’t come over to this side. He just makes these little tears and stuff, but nothing enough for him to cross. I don’t think he can make something that big on his own. So he was finding these tormented kids, and broke into their heads with nightmares and delusions until he killed them… and somehow, their death's made these little tears that lingered. He needed four of them to open a bigger gate. And he’d decided one of them was Max. We kept him off of her once and put together a plan to have Max draw him away so we could dive or climb into the Upside Down through one of the small ones and destroy his physical body. To put a stop to it.”

“And all of this happened Thursday?” Jonathan asked, looking at her in his rearview mirror.

“Yeah, how did you-”

“We couldn’t get any flights to get over here after we got El back and she said it was looking bad for Max. El figured, if we couldn’t physically get here in time, we could put her in a salt bath like three years ago in the gym. So she could find Max and use her to piggyback into Henry’s head.”

“Mind Fight,” Argyle commented.

“She said while she was fighting him, he started having these reactions like something else was happening to him and then him and everything around them just faded away.”

“We lit him up with Molotov cocktails and buckshot.”

“So it worked.” Mike nodded, but was still confused,” Then why was there an earthquake and-”

“It didn’t work.” Nancy told him sadly,” Where we were supposed to find his body, it was missing. He got to Max. And then he got away. Somehow. And the gate opened for over a minute.”

“Max died?” her brother gaped at her.

“Eddie did, too.”

“What?”

“He went in with Dustin to distract the monsters. We pulled him out, but he bled a lot. Steve had to give him CPR, and we got them both back, but he’s in the hospital with Max.”

“Wait- that’s who El…?” Jonathan began to ask, cutting himself off as he connected the dots.

“What?”

He continued,“ El said there was someone else with you guys. A guy she didn’t know. Lots of hair, right?”

“It was Eddie?” her brother asked, remembering El's mumbling when she came back.

“Yeah.”

“But he’s fine, now?” Mike hoped.

Nancy was quiet for a moment. She didn’t have the kind of answer he wanted,“ He hasn’t woken up yet. Neither has Max.”

“El can check on them.” Jonathan declared.

“What do you mean she can check on them?”

“You remember how I said ‘and then some’?” Argyle asked her.

“Yeah?”

“This is the some.” Jonathan took over,” El, like, remote resuscitated them, or something. We don’t really know what she did. She doesn’t really know what she did. But she did something and they didn't stay gone.”

“What does that mean?”

“We don’t know, not yet…”

“I guess we’ll just have to find out.” Nancy finished as Jonathan pulled into the hospital parking lot.

The other carpool had a somewhat similar conversation as they drove behind. Filled in all the blanks from the past week for each other, but there was notably a lot less bickering between siblings. Dustin had tried to reach Lucas on the radio, but he wasn’t responding. In truth, he might’ve shut it off with the plans to hear from him that night.

When they turned the corner into the lot, Will found one of Steve’s zip-up hoodies in the back seat. It was a dark blue, not quite navy, color with worn drawstrings that’d have come undone in the wash and been retied about a dozen times. With Steve’s blessing, they get El slipped into it to cover her now near-shaven head to avoid attracting too much attention, She steadies her nerves and pulls the hood over as she sets her sights on the building.

It took a minute because it was still so busy with patients coming in and going out, but eventually, both cars got parked, and the members of the slowly reforming Party climb out onto the pavement. They came together and headed inside to see what’s become of their unconscious companions. And to see what they can do about it.

#Okay. I just want to write Argyle dialogue for the rest of my life now. He's just so fun and such a king and he deserves the best lines.#And don't worry about Nancy. She doesn't really hate Argyle.#She's just not sure how to handle new people who are overlyfriendly and don't seem to be taking her seriously at first.#(See: Nancy and Robin before they had the 'We're friends?' convo)#She'll warm up to him soon tho #And I am pushing my Steve-is-very-physically-affectionate-until-it-overwhelms-him-with-feelings-and-he-has-to-push-everyone-back agenda #Little Byers hug had to happen and in my world Will 100% has a baby crush on Steve.#NOTHING is going to EVEN REMOTELY happen there tho #He just sees a lot in Steve to admire and like (Same with Mike @ Eddie) so those characters are going to have interesting interactions #Anyway - next chap is going to be a littler one. About 2k words. But it'll drop soon so you won't have to wait long #Steve Harrington #Eddie Munson #Steddie #Steveddie #Steve x Eddie #Nancy Wheeler #Robin Buckney #Ronance #Robin x Nancy #The Fruity Four #Stranger Things #Stranger Things 4 #Stranger Things 4 spoilers #Stranger Things 4 volume 2 spoilers #stranger things fanfiction #ST4 fanfic #Steddie Fanfic #Ronance Fanfic

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